What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us. -Ralph Waldo Emerson

Saturday, May 29, 2010

Perfect Weather

More beachy sand fun.
We ventured over to Daddy's country club to watch him and one of his golf buddies hit a couple holes.
The youngest ever caddy score keeper.
Within the last two weeks E has become very interested in trying to use writing instruments.
My little teether.
No more baby tennies for E. He's sporting a pair of size5 from G Auntie E.
Couldn't resist the side-view of his cheekers.
They're not so big, are they? ha
Since he's been so interested in trying to/watching Mommy write/draw, I figured he might be enjoy coloring a bit by himself.
Oh, I love sidewalk chalk. Crayons are next.
Our clubhouse pool finally opened for the season so we went for E's first pool splash today!
And, he seemed to really enjoy it! This little guy wanted to go right on in, and stay in the water even after he had a couple dunks (yeah, I forgot that water has a different effect on little legs ;) )!
Wonder if he can get a tan with all that SPF?
We are so fortunate to have such a nice clubhouse pool area.
There is one (really) big pool, up to 10ft, and a little kiddie pool. I love the fact that we don't have to maintain our own pool, or waste all that water.
The one place we haven't been yet is our park district's recreation center which houses several fantastic aquatic pool/play areas- eh, maybe when he's a bit older.
Our little water baby.

Tuesday, May 25, 2010

Lions, Tigers, and Bears- Oh My!

A Day at the Zoo!
We made our first family trip today to the Brookfield Zoo- a much planned excursion after last week's short visit with our good friend. We had another perfect weather day for the fun in the sun. E really enjoyed the children's activities: carousel, petting zoo, Hamill Family play zoo. It is so neat watching him get so excited about the animals!


E loved the petting zoo. I thought he would be hesitant, but he charged right on after the goats. They were a bit more patient with him than Gershwin is ;)
He just wanted to walk around, but after his bumps we have been so cautious.
Gorilla hugs.
The cutest baby bird.
We loved the Hamill Family zoo- it is definitely the place to go with the young ones!

"I am King Julian!"
Hamill had a very cute Lemur exhibit, and even little lemur outfits for the kids to dress up in.

Grrrrr...


While E was taking his nap, we had fun entertaining ourselves.

This is B taming the wild beast- ha :)

It was a hot one.

Wish we were splashing in the water like the polar bears.

This was our favorite animal.

We'll be back! Thank goodness we have an unlimited membership because we have so much more to see!

Monday, May 24, 2010

Morning Beach Bum

After going to the library for infant storytime and playdates early this morning, we headed to the beach:
Bucket in hand...
...Toddle thru the sand...
...Dip, splash, wade in delight...
...Boats in the water, look at them float...
...Tushie in the water, what a royal mess!
This little guy loves the sand & surf.
I'm so glad we live right by this beautiful little beach front.
It makes for a pefect morning outing.

Beep, beep, beep!
Yesterday at Grandmom's: E's new favorite ride.
He loves watching the neighborhood kids ride around in their motorized jeeps & corvettes.
He'll have to wait for that joy-ride till he gets a little older.

Sunday, May 23, 2010

The past couple days

"Hi, Auntie E."
Somebody's hair is getting curlier.
One of his new favorite activities: running thru the familyroom curtains.
It's almost like his little fort.
One of his birthday presents from Grandmom R and Aunt A was a zoo membership.
My best friend, Cheryl, flew in to town and she got to take E on his first zoo trip... for an hour. Mom wasn't feeling well and we went back home. He loves walking outside. Notice his boo-boo is almost healed.
Seconds after this picture was taken he needed another bandaid on the same spot.
Ouch!

"We went to Cousin T.'s baseball game yesterday.

Look at him go!

We even stopped by to see Granddaddy, which is always lots of fun!"

E met a new buddy and did an awesome job of sharing his toys.

What a gorgeous day for a baseball game!
Oh, and other random things:
~E has been really lovey: he is such a cuddler, hugger, and kisser. I love it when he comes up to me and nozzles his head into my neck. I say, "give me a kiss", and he plants a big, very wet, smoocher on my cheek. Kisses aren't new, his first one was way back around August, but he's been doing it lots lately.
~He's also now being shy, and will push his head into my chest when he sees someone new. So sweet.
~He's saying more 'mama', especially when I'm out of the room and he needs me.
~I think he said his third word a couple days ago. He loves watching the garbage trucks. He banged on the window and said, "kuck, kuck, kuck".
~During storytime today I asked him to select a particular book. He went to the bookshelf and pulled the book out from all the others. I asked him to do the same thing with the next book and he did. Very neat.

Thursday, May 13, 2010

Fun-filled Week

What a fun week it has been, minus the fact that E has been bothered by a very runny nose, teething, and earaches. It has been a special and relaxing last couple of days from all of E's birthday festivities - suddenly I feel like I have tons of time on my hands for painting, labeling/dating all 6,000+ pic files of his first year of life, updating blogs, finishing his baby book, organizing baby items/memories, etc..

'Little' E is having a blast playing with all of his new toys, puzzles, books and trucks!!!
He loves playing with his first set of 'legos'. This is the first setup he 'built' with Mommy's help.
Admittedly, I love building with the blocks just as much. Maybe it will inspire him to be an architect.
Whoever brought this birthday balloon to his party- thanks!
He's having a blast with his helium balloons- likes to drum on them, carry them around, put them in his toyshelf cubbies, watch them float up to the ceiling....

He likes the magnets of Duke & Gershwin that we have on our dryer.
I thought I'd 'teach' him about magnets. He got a kick out of them.
Even pulled out his alphabet magnets from hiding (I don't let him play with them yet since they are a choking hazard)

We are spending lots of times learning animals.
I match his model animals with the books pictures & puzzle pieces, and make the sounds.

Does anyone know what a fish or bunny say?!? Guess I'll be sticking with what they 'do': "swish, swish' and a 'hop, hop'. :)

Maybe he'll be on a traveling soccer team just like his Auntie E.

He gets a 'kick' out of 'kicking' & dribbling the ball in the playroom and outside.

His little kicks are very cute.

E got an A++ on his 12month checkup :)
We were absolutely astonished that he is so tall- taller than we expected.
He is 32in tall and 23.7lbs. Percentages are totally annoying but, essentially, he is taller than 96% of kids his age. Given our sizes, we didn't think he'd ever be this big.
Hopefully he slows down at some point so we can enjoy all his cute clothes a little longer.
No wonder he's wearing 24month tops. Just maybe he has my dad's height gene.
And, we found out that he has 4 molars coming in, along with two ear infections. That explains the runny nose the past week! Ha
A Special Day Just For ME
Mother's day was extra special this year. Last year, though I just gave birth to our precious baby, was spent running between hospitals all day for jaundice blood tests. This along with a newborn and recovery from labor was 'not-a-nice-day'.
My sweet hubby and darling baby had 2 dozen roses delivered (my favorite) on Sunday- one for this year and one for last year (even though he gave me a bouquet and chocolates last year).
We celebrated Mother's Day on Wednesday (Daddy's occupation default).
I got to sleep in (I'm out of practice and woke up at usual time anyway, but pretended to sleep).
I was surprised with breakfast, coffee, and fresh-squeeze OJ in bed by Daddy & baby.
Look at my little moocher. He dive bombed for my bananas and cheerios.
We went to Evanston for lunch at our favorite sushi restaurant, Kuni's. And even stopped at the local chocolate boutique for a scrumptious sampler. What mom doesn't like chocolate?!
What a fabulous day!
I don't think that I would be the mom that I am without the amazing help from my husband and one of the greatest dads in the world! Thanks!

Kids can never play enough:
E is getting sooo good at putting shapes into their corresponding holes.
I like that it can keep him entertained by himself for a couple of minutes.
His playroom is now filled with toys!
He loves his road playmat and likes to 'drive' his cars on it.
I used to think that I would want a separate playroom for our kids, but am loving that it is a playroom by day and familyroom by night (but separate floor from kitchen and living room). I can be just as comfortable watching him from the sectional, check email, even take care of laundry in the laundry room, all while keeping a close eye on him. And, then, the toys 'disappear' into their baskets in the evening. How perfect!!
Hope we can have this layout in our next house!

I went upstairs this morning for a few seconds only to return down the stairs to find E climbing up onto the third step.
Well, he's finally able to climb the stairs by himself. Shortly after this video he climbed an entire set of stairs by himself (with me right behind him).
I still haven't taught him to go down, or the risk of falling so, until he learns those, it's another annoying baby gate at the bottom of the stairs whenever I have to leave his sight.

Thursday, May 6, 2010

E's 1st Birthday

How we celebrated E's first birthday as a family of three:


(unless it's a pug or husky, it is our neighbor's dog)

presents from Mommy & Daddy
My very handsome, sweet men.
Card from Mommy & Daddy
I've always made little notes for each of B's presents ever since we were first dating.
Thought I'd do it for our kids as well.
Of course he was getting Jack ;)
Opening a wooden cement & fire truck.
I like these since he also has to figure out how to put them back together.
"Ninja Power!"
Oh, I've been waiting to get this since as long as I've been looking at the PBK catalogs (years before we had kids-ha).
A preschool backpack- for him to select (when he's old enough, ages 2-3) the appropriate amount of toys/books (and diapers) to take with him on vacations, visits, friends' houses, etc. Even Teddy can bum a ride in one of the side compartments. For now, I'll just hang it from the stroller bar.
PBK Mackenzie Preschool Backback (I love that it is simple, very small, and stylish with no characters)
Best part: it's monogrammed !
We still had to open his gift from Great Great Auntie S.
A playroom mat to drive his cars/trucks on, and a contribution towards his college education (GO NU!).
Not sure who's more excited about this play mat: me or him?
Load of fun running thru the ribbons.
Silly birthday hat.
"Mom, why are you making me wear this?"
Really, this pic only lasted a second.
Think it is going to be an annual tradition to take E fishing on his birthday.
Daddy even caught him a big bass for the day.
Deja vu all over again for the birthday photo outfits.
Second (and final) attempt at a family b-day pose.
Promptly at 3:56, B & I said 'cheers' and wished E a happy first birthday. I have to admit, there were a couple of tears: I was so thrilled to be 'able to' celebrate this day, not have to deal with the whole after-labor, and think back on what such an incredible year and first-born son we have. It is such a joy.

One Exception:
After the birthday boy went to bed, we celebrated May 5th the way we've done it each year since we've been together: fiesta para Cinco de Mayo! We had our friends over (Liz & Chip, we missed you) for Las Palmas, fresh-squeezed Margaritas, and amazing guac by Chef B (I totally forgot about the Juanes y Mana). And, we wonder why we ever totally forgot about it this time last year ;) Let's hope next year won't be another exception ;)
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